Entrepreneur®

The following is an excerpt from the piece.  To read the complete original article, click here: How to Turn Your Idea Into Cash

Ben Kaufman was on the subway in New York CIty in 2005 when he has his light-bulb moment.  He saw a girl--astranger--sporting a pair of headphones he designed at mophie, the iPod accessories company he founded the day he graduated from high school.

"I saw something I invented out in the world, and it was the best feeling," Kaufman says. "That's when I realized I needed to help more people experience that."

Four years later, Kaufman launched Quirky, an online consumer products company with a social development twist: products for the people, created and designed by the people. 

"We're making invention accessible," Kaufman says during a whirlwind tour of Quirky's offices, which occupy the third floor of a building in SoHo, one of New York City's busiest retail corridors. "Ninety-nine percent of people are armchair inventors. They have great product ideas, but most don't have the time or money or expertise to make them happen."

The goal at Quirky is to change that, and ultimately become the global, go-to brand for everyone who's ever dreamed of becoming an inventor.